1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a content management system, a content management method and a computer program which manage preferably contents of digitized various media. More specifically, the invention relates to a content management system, a content management method and a computer program which manage preferably enormous amount of contents existing across plural devices.
In more detail, the invention relates to a content management system, a content management method and a computer program which manage preferably astronomical amount of contents existing on a global basis and in which contents with various media types provide a user with a key or a clue to a desired content under a computing environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a recent rapid progress in information technology (IT), computer systems in various forms have been developed, manufactured and widely used in universities and other research institutes, offices and household. On a computer, various media such as sound, image and natural language as well as a plain text document file are digitized and dealt with mathematically, and thereby it becomes possible to perform an advanced process such as editing, processing, accumulation, management, transmission, distribution and sharing of information. As this, on a computer system, content with various media types can be dealt with.
Recently, in addition, information and communications network extends from a private network such as a home LAN to a wide area network such as the Internet. Various devices such as PC, PDA, camcorder, digital camera, TV receiver, DVD player and HD recorder are connected to a home LAN, and can share the generated or acquired content with each other and use the content for playing and so on. A user can acquire a desired content from a remote content server. In short, enormous amount of contents with various media types can be used on a network to which various devices are connected.
Although the computing environment capable of dealing with enormous amount of various media contents seems to be convenient, there is a problem how to manage the enormous amount of contents. To put it strongly, existence of astronomical amount of contents on a global basis makes it difficult for a user to reach desired media and the user tends to forget what content he/she desires to reach.
Now various resource objects are displayed by icon on a desk top screen with which GUI (Graphical User Interface) is provided, which makes it possible to be dealt with intuitive input operation and to be convenient. However, nothing provides a key or a clue to a desired content. As a result, a user cannot use a usable content effectively to lead to a dead storage of content.
For example, there is proposed an information retrieval system which provides a navigation of search feeding back accurately which part of stored information the information shown to a system by a searcher corresponds to (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). In this information retrieval system, the stored information is classified by an individual fixed viewpoint and a view displaying each component thereof is prepared for each viewpoint. This view changes dynamically operating with each view in response to the matching number of the search results and the view selection process by the user, in the process of searching. Also, the information searched by applying the previous view is fed back to a group of information narrowed by the searcher to give a new condition for narrowing. This feedback, which is a key to find the condition for narrowing that was not expected initially, helps a searcher without a sufficient expertise in the corresponding technical field find a desired subject according to the keyword given in rough examination.
This information retrieval system, however, cannot provide a user having no a guideline for searching such as what media type of content is available, with a key or a clue to find content that the user desires to use from a huge content-accumulated space.
In addition, there is proposed a content retrieval device extracting a keyword automatically by performing voice recognition and image recognition of input information such as voice information and image information to search a desired appropriate content effectively (for example, refer to Patent Document 2). In this content retrieval device, for example, a keyword is acquired by performing voice recognition of input voice information to output the content corresponding to the keyword of the result of voice recognition as a search result by comparing the keyword with a keyword stored and managed corresponding to the content in a keyword-content correspondence table part.
This content retrieval device, however, in which the keyword search is basic, does not provide a user having no a guideline for searching (without technique of specifying even a keyword) with a key or a clue to find a content that the user desires to use from a huge content-accumulated space. In addition, it is assumed that the keyword of content to be searched is registered in the keyword-content correspondence table part. It is impossible to perform a keyword registration for all contents existing in a huge content-accumulated space, and the range of application becomes limited.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-8-44759
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2001-229180